The Key Word is “Personal”
One of the most important elements of holistic admissions review is the Personal Statement, aka the main “college essay.” Perhaps that's why it can cause angst among students and parents alike. At its core, it serves a very simple purpose: Getting to know who you are beyond grades and test scores. But in practice, it is unlike anything most teens have ever written and conflicting advice from well-meaning adults can add to the uncertainty of what colleges want to hear. So let’s break it down.
A Personal Statement is a personal reflection addressing a specific prompt that is designed to elicit what colleges want to know about you - who you are, what are your character traits, what type of person will you be on their campus. In other words, answering the prompt is key.
Speaking of prompts - here are the 2025-2026 Common App Essay prompts and the University of California Personal Insight Questions (PIQs).
The Personal Statement Is:
A unique writing sample demonstrating personal qualities you want admissions officers to know, but they won't find elsewhere in the application
Based on skills, traits, and experiences that already exist within you
Strengthened by self-assessment, honest reflection, and a bit of vulnerability
The Personal Statement Is Not:
Necessarily a completely unique topic, revolutionary experience, life-changing epiphany
A narrative resume of professional accomplishments that sounds like an adult wrote it
The unabridged story of your life
A fishing expedition to determine what a college “wants to hear”
“It’s never just the essay that gets you in, but it can make your reader remember you and go to bat for you. It’s how they get to know you as a person.”
- Harvard Admissions, during my Spring 2024 campus visit
At College Rangefinder, I personally coach my students through a simple, proven, 10-step process from blank page to polished, effective personal statement, based on the WOW Writing Workshop method. We use the same principles to craft powerful supplemental essays. As a WOW Certified Essay Coach, I am trained by the best in the business to make this process clear, manageable, and effective for students to present their own story in their own voice.
Ready to get started? For a limited time, I’m offering a standalone Essay Package. Learn how it works and book here.
